Im from the USA and I am just curious what the general publics reaction is when your in your F-car. On this side of the pond we get the whole spectrum, from negative to positive , positive being the predominate of course. I think europeans are more appreciative of the historical significance of these cars, etc. with a more sophisticated knowledge of them. Over here there is a more Nascar mentality lol How fast does it go ? sometimes that is the level we deal with over here. I usually answer them with : top speed is just one dynamic of the totality of capabilitys of the car. I am always hoping for a more articulate question. Anyway thanks for your input. Tuco
the only place i have ever driven my Ferrari and got bad reactions is in London. Personally i think its down to pure jelousy, and the people giving you the bad reaction are the guys who are 'wanna be's' and usually 'never gonna be's', who given £100k would go out and buy a Ferrari for show and not for real reasons. Just my opinions, 99% of the time, its all good !
Just last weekend I had a group of lads in a Clio Williams give the thumbs up at a set of traffic lights, later in the same journey I had a guy shout 'W@NKER' from the pavement, so yes, very mixed reactions.
90% good, especially from teenagers who often get maligned for their indifference to most things. They obviously appreciate quality!
all i get is WOW A PROPER FERRARI WITH 12 CYLINDERS IN THE REAR when i had the 355 it was is that a toyota MR2 with a body kit on
Dear Comrade Steve M8, Yes I agree totally. Everyone loves a proper Ferrari with the correct twelve cylinder engine in the rear. With kind regards, 512 Tea Are - Tea Arse - Tear Arse
People still stop and stare when you drive past. Youngsters will pull alongside and gawp, egging you in a good natured way to race. Kids in the car in front will point and wave (they love it when you pop your headlights up). I don't often get negative feedback. As long as you are curteous and gracious on the road people are going to feel less negative. We are all ambassadors for Ferrari, so letting people sitting in your car, or taking people out for a spin pushes back the darkness of resentment and prejudice. When asked why I have a Ferrari, I have one reply. "I had to sacrifice a lot to own her, and it costs all I have left to run her, but she makes me feel good about the world, and my place in it. Wanna go for a ride?"
when i drive past people shout "hey steve, that looks much better than the fiero replica stevef drives"
So far I've not had any negative response. The kids at the school at the end of the road all stop and watch as it goes by. Q
That bloke must get about because he said the same to me when I drove past him near Bromley last week. I generally get good reactions though and always have time to show people the car or answer questions if they show an interest, especially if they have children with them.
Shouldn't you be tagging a "Do I feel lucky? Well punk, do you?" onto the end of that? From this day forth you shall be known as Dirty Stiggy
Some bloke sitting in a Proton waited for me and my little boy to come out of Burger King today. We exchanged admiring glances at each others car (what else do you do?) followed by him saying "i bet that doesnt do 40 to the gallon." Ohh on a good run ...i replied.
Rob, if he was in a proton are you sure it was outside Burger king and not the local care home? I expect they've taken him back in now, bless him.
Back on topic. In general I've found most people are positive, and that in general the kids round here love it when they see our Ferraris out and about in town. Where and when its possible, and the kid in question doesn't act like a psycho, we will quite often give them a quick drive through town. Does wonders for their street cred in front of their mates / girlfriends, and also they realise you are just ordinary guys and not stuck up your own arse, so you get instant respect and correspondingly word gets around and your car doesn't get trashed,keyed and other nasties. Not all the youngsters out there are hooligans. You get more problems, I have found, with the guys who think that because they can't get one (usually because they have no ambition, insight or intelligence) then by default (a) you shouldn't have one and (b) because you do have one you must be a w@nker. I tend to not rise to the bait where they're concerned, let them go back to their own little worlds and their souped up border line wrecks. For what its worth
Thanx for your responses everyone. I agree we are in fact ambassadors of the marque. It is indeed a blast to see reactions from people. I've had people hanging out their car windows while going down the freeway ! I try and take a moment or two to answer questions if someone is interested, they always seem to appreciate that and tell me so. I had one person come up at a petrol station and ask me if it was a kit car, I was tempted on that one but we have to (I at least) take into consideration everyones level of understanding and experience. I took some time and explained to him how Ferrari integrates technology into the design etc, he seemed to soak it all in, and I hope I raised his aesthetic sensibilitys at least a little. For most people these cars are so far out of their realm of possibilitys that in itself can cause them to react in strange ways and say some silly things. Rest assured you all that all the people out there who shout w@nker or whatever are just as spellbound by these beautiful F1 bred works of art as the people who give you the positive responses. It's just their inferiority complex , self destructive mentality won't allow them to acknowledge it. No mystery why they are probably driving borderline wrecks. It's much easier for them to blame everyone else for their lack of succes. Same goes for those frowning while being overextended in their BMW 3 series. And I think M3's look and perform "right" My daughter and I were on an out of town trip recently and I spotted a rosso corsa 355 ahead of us on the freeway, I caught up with him and told him his car was gorgeous,the driver smiled and thanked me, that made the trip even more special. Then one time I had my 512tr on the open trailer and stopped by the Porsche dealership to see some salesmen friends, A man in a brand new beautiful black 911 pulled up and said " this is not a car (pointing at his) THAT is a car " then smiled and drove off, That was pure class ! Anyway thank you all for your responses. very interesting. Ciao Tuco Image Unavailable, Please Login
General reaction is a great one from the public, bringing everyone lots of fun! Police reaction is a little TOO over the top at the moment, but I've discussed that in another thread already.
In general, good responses and I agree with giving people a ride in it whenever reasonable and if they seem genuinely enthused... this has even included one of the young lads who works at our local tip! Waiting to pull out of the local petrol station on Saturday though... bloke in his perfectly nice pale blue Rover 75 with what looked to be a perfectly nice wife sat beside him... gives me the bent little finger! What a tosser. He doesn't even know my name let alone the size of my ****... nor that to afford it I have to get up at 5am every morning and try to get home before 8pm at night to see my daughter before she goes to bed. You just can't allow for blind ignorance... Bet his wife would have quite liked a ride in it though
Having the 246 and 328 puts a different spin on things sometimes. The Dino does nothing but attract really great positive comments. Even had people going around rounabouts twice to catch a look. The 328 can sometimes provoke people with a hand gesture or too. I have always thought the newer the car the worse the reaction. Still........ name dropping moment.......I was talking to Josh Lewsy (Eng Rugby Player) at a hotel. My wife turned up in our E type as he was walking through the door and his comment was Wow thats a car......pointing to the Dino I'd just got out of I said no thats a car! ( you can see where my loyalty lies) Ended up chatting motors and his opinion was that if he turned up in a 360 he'd be called a real w***er and if in the Dino people would just think he just had great taste. Might be something to do with the "footballers syndrome" ???
So far everyone who has reacted to my (Blue) Daytona has been very positive - as indeed they bloody well should be. I even had to leave it out on the street for a couple of nights recently (eek ! - the clutch cable broke, and I couldn't get it back up into the garage). Still, it was fine. Most people walking past just didn't notice it ! Try that with a lime green Murcielago...
